I'm just trying to find out whether I'm crazy or not. I love this movie, I love it's simultaneous love story and struggle against poverty and modern civilization. It is also visually appealing as well. Does anybody else have this as #1 on their list?
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"Muddy Waters invented electricity!" Willie Brown, Crossroads (1986)
I agree completely; there's so much social criticism in the movie, yet the movie works well as a comedy and romance. I personally as a matter of taste don't have it as #1, but it's definitely top 10.
shareNo not #1, but it is in my top 10 as well.
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It is at the moment. It obviously changes over time.
To prove it: My name on allpoetry.com is modernxtimes.
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Not only is this my favorite movie of all time, but I also believe it is the greatest movie ever made. It is true that the social criticism in Modern Times is quite interesting, but I don't believe that is Chaplin's focus. The central question the film asks us is whether it is possible to be truly happy in a modern world that disenfranchises the working man and values profit over the pursuit of happiness. The ending is uplifting in that it provides us with a yes, albeit not an easy one. The Tramp and The Gamin will continue their lives with the same problems as ever -- unemployment, arrest, hunger -- but they will find the strength to overcome them because they have each other and the shared dream to live life to the fullest. Even in an imperfect world, individuals can transcend its trivialities and injustices through the power of imagination. A manufacturing plant can become the stage for a ballet, and a rundown shack turns into a domestic paradise for a young couple in love. It is movies' same capacity to transform and transcend that makes them such a powerful medium. As The Tramp walks off into the sunset at the end, Chaplin is well aware that this will be the last time we ever see him. It is our final goodbye, and we must now internalize the lessons he had been telling us all along -- that even the poorest of men could elicit the richest of stories and tenderest of joys.
shareAlthough it seems most people think City Light is a better film, Modern Time is always my all time favorite movie. I like the humor and touching feeling in his social criticism of the industrial period. But it is the uplifting ending that does to me. I like what the previous post evanm-3 said
“The Tramp and The Gamin will continue their lives with the same problems as ever -- unemployment, arrest, hunger -- but they will find the strength to overcome them because they have each other and the shared dream to live life to the fullest.”
Even if we are constrained by social structures, we the agent can still construct and reconstruct our worlds as we like. If I can take only one movie with me, this is definitely it.
It's defiantly up there for me, but I have to say that The Kid just inched it's way ahead just a little more. Both of them are hilarious and touching, but The Kid involved an unbelievably adorable child in a heartbreaking scene, it left a longer impression, but that's just me.
shareNot my 'all-time' favorite. That would go to Jaws.
But it's definately in my top 5.
You are absolutely not crazy! Again, it's not my #1 (that goes to Charade, Cary Grant AND Audrey Hepburn in one film, classic), but it is my number two. And it's certainly my favorite Chaplin film.
I first saw this film when I was about 15 years old. Not only did it open me up to Charlie and his comedic genius, but to the entire "classic" movie genre, and that alone, to me, is worth so much.
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It's my #1 as well. It's been for over a year and I don't think anything is ever going to top it. It's such a brilliant social commentary and it's hilarious to boot. Chaplin and Godard are both fantastic as well.
"WE'RE HAVING A FIRE...SALE!
EVACUATE ALL OF THE SCHOOL CHILDREN!"
It is probably in my top five, and at least my top ten. I LOVE Modern Times. Schindler's List and Casablanca tie for my number 1. I also really like, almost as much, City Lights and The Kid. The Great Dictator was good. Gold Rush was one of Chaplin's favorites, but I think I would like it better without the verbal narration.
shareThis film is third, Life of Brian (Monty Python) is number two, and Chaplain's The Great Dictator is number one. Modern Times is the only Charlie Chaplain film where the tramp actually gets the girl. Classic. A real keeper. Lovely, excellent, very good, good.
shareThe tramp got the Girl, in the Gold Rush. My favorite Chaplin film is Great Dictator, because it is the one in which he took the most risks. And that speech at the end, I have no words to expsress my admiration!
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